Leave a comment

Book review

Gene A. Budig tells the personalized stories of nine exceptional Americans—people who knew what they wanted in life and followed difficult paths to achieve admirable ends.

In this sequel to his earlier book, Grasping the Ring, Budig profiles Rachel Robinson, widow of baseball’s Jackie Robinson and a remarkable woman in her own right; Bill Veeck, a showman and owner of three baseball teams who helped teach fans how to laugh and have fun at the ballpark; Bob Costas, the longtime sports announcer and commentator; Gene Autry, the “Singing Cowboy,” former owner of the California Angels, and noted philanthropist; Bob Gibson, a Hall-of-Fame pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals known as a fierce competitor; Billy Beane, a well-known baseball insider made famous in the Michael Lewis book Moneyball; Jerry West, one of professional basketball’s all-time finest players; Stan Kasten, one of the great minds in baseball and current president of the Washington Nationals; and Bud Selig, the current commissioner of Major League Baseball.

What emerges in Budig’s engaging narrative is that these individuals were ahead of their time, and these essays paint a vivid and sometimes troubling picture of what they endured to become leaders of stature.